End-thrust bearing.



H. B. KEIPER.

END THRUST BEARING.

APPLICATION FILED 050.4. 1912.

1,269,087., I Patented June 11, 1918.

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H. B. KEIPER.

END THRUS T BEARING. APPLICATION FILED DEC. 4, I9I 2.

1,2693681 Patented June 11, 191&

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IHHHI IIHH Illlllllll Will a mu m WITNESSES HENRY BRINSER KEEPER, OF LANCASTER, PENNSYLVANIA.

END-THR'US'I. BEARING.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 11, 1918.

Application filed December 4, 1912. Serial No. 734,957.

To all whom it may concern:

' Be it known that L'HENRY B. KEIPER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Lancaster, in the county of Lancaster and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certainsnew and useful Improvements in 'End- Thrust Bearings; and I do hereby declare the following to be "a full, clear, and exact "description of the invention, such aswill enable others skilled in' the art to which it appertains tom'ake' and usethe same.

' 'This invention relates to anti-friction bearings for sustaining end thrust, in which spherical rollers or balls are used; and more particularly to an elastic cage for spacing said spherical rollers.

' The objects of the invention are to provide a simple, cheap, and durable cage capable of allowing the balls to be easily assembled by hand 'without the use of any tools, also to allow for easily'replacingthe balls if broken without taking the cage apart, as is necessary in almost all of'the known forms of cages now in use, and further to provide a retainer which will permit the balls to run loosely and freely so that "ifthey vary in diameter they will nevertheless'run in the same race, whereas in the forms of retainers now in use in which the balls are held tightly any slight variation in diameter causes each ball to wear a separate race-way in the bearing surfaces or plates. The invention will first be hereinafter 'more particularly described, with reference to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification, and then pointed out in the claims at the end of the description.

In said drawings,

Figure 1 is a front elevation of 'a ball bearing withmy improved cage filled with balls and fitting between opposed bearing plates or disks;

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional elevation of the same; j Fig. 3 is a perspective view on a reduced scale of the ball retaining cage, and bearing plates disassembled; f

Fig. 4 is a detail view on an enlarged scale of a portion of thevball cage, showof Fig. 5

the ball cage illustrating in full and dotted lines the method of inserting the balls;

Fig. 6 is a section taken on the line 66 Fig. 7 is a front elevation of a modficat1on of the invention, showing a cage with two rows of balls;

Fig. 8 is a vertical section of said modification; I

Fig. 9 is a side elevation of the cage used in the modification shown in Figs. 7 and 8;.

Figs. 10 and 11 are perspective views of the bearing plates; a I Figs. 12 and 13 aredetail' cross-sections taken on the lines X-X and YY respectively-of Fig. 9, and

Fig. 14 is a detail perspective view of a portion of the ball retaining cage shown in Figs. 7 and 11. j

1 Referring to said drawings, in which the same letters of reference are used to'denote corresponding parts in difi'erent views, the

balls travel, while the plate B -has a smooth bearing surface. Between these plates is 'fitted an annular ball retaining case C consisting of a ring-shaped body 0 provided with externally projecting annular flanges D, having oppositely disposed lateral openings d to receive spherical rollers or balls E which project through the openings in the flanges so as to permit them to. take end thrust. The lateral openings 01 in the flanges are approximately U-shaped so that they open outwardly at theperiphery of the flanges, leaving approximately sectoral intervening portions which are adapted to spring apart sufliciently to permitthe insertion ofa ball, as illustrated in Figs. 3, 4, 5 and 13, the distance between the points of two adjacent sectoral portions being slightly smaller than the largest diameter of a ball so that when snapped into place it will be prevented from escaping by contact with sectoral portions" of the flanges between the lateral openings. These openings are circular in form to an extent somewhat greater than the diameter of that part of the ball which normally comes in contact withthe retainer, so as to permit easy and free. rotaes meat d y t 9? 1 he greatest diameter of the ball, so that the retainer will hold the ball in position, and the balls cannot be inserted lfLlLGlELllYvtllI-Ollll the openings but are placed radially between the two flanges as far within the lateral openings asthey willextend without pressure, whereupon a slight push will snap them into place, the sectoral portions ofthe flanges yielding laterally as indicated in Figs. 4 and-1'3.

I preferably cut or sheer-oft the points of the sectoral portions of the cage or retainer so as; to present. to the surface'of. theballs preparatory to inserting thema line contact instead of a sharp pointed; contact, which would be present were the circular opening alone cut vin-the retainer. TlllSWlll allowv the balls todoe inserted morereadily and render the retainers of small, size less 0 lia'ble tobrealror chip during the (insertion of the balls.

I have shown in Figs. 7ito 14a modification ofmy retainer, desi I1Gd;'f01:l1 SG wlth a plurality of rows. of ba s, A and B denoting the bearing plates; and O the retamer. The lateral openings for the. outerrow of ballspare constructed substantially the same as those described for the single vrow of balls, but inorder to provide for the insertion ofianother row orrows otfballs aseries of oppositely disposed openings-.G'for seatingthe ballssimilar to those already.- described,,is provided in the annular flanges D opening out into a series of oppositely disposed openingsH and H through one of which the balls may .be inserted and placed in position to be snappedpinto their respective seats. The latter openings may vary somewhat in diameter, the openings H 40 in one of the flanges being preferably somewhat larger, while thecorresponding openings H in the other flange: are somewhat smaller than the diameter of'the balls,.said openingsbeing bounded by lines which intersect theopening in which the balls are seated at a pointbetween their axesand their circumferences, so that whena ball is introduced through one of the openings and placed in positionbetween the two flanges to be forced into .its seat itmay-be snapped into position in the same manner. thatthe balls areinserted between the oppositely disposed openings of the outer row, that is to say, :assuming that the retainer is placed in a horizontal position, the balls may be dropped laterally through the larger ofthe oppositely disposed openings ingoneof the flanges, and will rest in the corresponding smaller-openings in-the other'flange; the

balls now lying-radially with respect tothe inner-openings lor ball-seats may be snapped into-their seats in the same manner as the balls in the outer row, the flangesyielding laterally. as. shown inFig.

"The utility andaadrantagesaof, any in].-

proved cage are obvious. A retainer is pro vided in which the balls are loosely housed, giving themv considerable lateral play, so that they will'all seek and'run in the same race regardless of slight difl'erences in size, whereas all lll16'Old-TGtfi'lllGFS hold the balls firmly, any difference in size resulting in each ball forming its own particular race. Further, the retainer or cage may be manufacturedand sold separately and easily'filled by handebyrtheultimate consumer, and if any of the balls break, they can be replaced without taking, the cage apart. The: cage is capable of accommodating :moreballs than any heretofore made, and maybe madeawith as many rows of balls-as is'desirable.

It: will=beiunderstood ,of course that while I have shown in eachz case" bearing plates having-a race or. races. in one 'plategonly in whichthe balls may run;thatthe invention iscapable of use with zorwithoutsuchplates .and'w-ithraces in one or-both plates, or with no races at all; also that thoughon1y-,a.- one andgtwosrow bearing is illustrated that]? do not :desire to be limited towanycgivent'number of rows of balls. It will, alsoabe understood that various; changes may be made in the illustrated-.embodiment ofmy invention vwithout. departing; from its spirit and. scope suchifor,instanceeas the, use of some other anti-friction device in the place of r the balls, as-rollers 201' some-other equivalent.

' Having-thus i described my invention-what -,I claim:asneweandidesire to secure; byrLetters Patent of the United States is:

1. A ballbearingcomprising,a ringeshaped body providedwith spaced peripheral proj ections and balls seated in. the spaces between .Such projections, the ball-seating. spaces being oirculari in form but less than acompleto circle and opening 'outwardly :on'curved ,converging lines,- and the projections, being; elastic. adapting theaballs to be sprung into the spaces therebetween, and: a seriesof. oppositely disposedopenings in said, flanges in which balls are seated and which open outwardly on converging lines into ,larger intersecting openings throughwhich the balls are inserted. and-:- then sprung into their; seats.)

2. A ball retaining cage consisting ofa ring-shaped body having flanges extending outwardly, therefrom, and provided. With a. plurality of seriesLoflateralopenings in. said flanges, the openings.ofithegouten series opening outwardly at the periphery, of the flanges, which are; adaptedtoyield to, permit the insertion of the balls between oppositely disposedaopenings, the inner series of openings opening; into another: series of larger sized openingsthrongh which the balls. may be inserted: laterally and," then snapped, radially into, the smaller, openings.

3.,A. ball. retainer. comprising an. annular body having spaced peripheral-flanges pro- ;Vldedwith a seriesofropgositely disposed ise openings through which balls may be inserted laterally and then sprung into the seats provided therefor by the smaller openings, said flanges being also provided with an outer series of oppositely disposed openings which open outwardly at the periphery of the flanges and provide another series of ball-seating spaces therebetween into which 1C the balls are sprung, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

HENRY BRINSER KEIPER.

Witnesses:

JEANETTE R. LONG-,- CHAS. E. Lone.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each by addressing the Gommissioner of Batents, Washington, D. G. 

